Dropping the Ball

This past Sunday, the 2-9 Buffalo Bills played the 8-3 Pittsburgh Steelers.  The game was supposed to be a lock for Pittsburgh, but Buffalo surprised everyone by taking one of the best teams in the NFL into overtime.

In what should have been the victorious play of the game, and likely the most prolific catch of his career, Steve Johnson (pictured left) dropped a perfect 40-yard pass in the endzone.  Buffalo never recovered, and Pittsburgh ended up winning 19-16.

At the end of the game, Johnson was visibly devastated stating that he would "never forget this...not ever."

Later that evening, Johnson "tweeted," ""I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."

Many centuries ago, there was a man by the name of Jonah who also "tweeted" about God.  After combating with the Lord concerning the people of Nineveh, Jonah found himself bitter and angry that He "relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them" (Jonah 3:10).  Jonah wanted to see Nineveh pay for their wickedness.  So angry was Jonah that he "tweeted," "Please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life" (4:3).

After this, Jonah traveled east of the city in order to see what would happen.  Here, God caused a plant to grow over Jonah to bring him shade.  The text says that Jonah "was extremely happy about the plant" (4:6).  But when the dawn came, God "appointed a worm [that] attacked the plant [so] that it withered" (4:7).  After growing faint from the heat on his head, Jonah, with all of his soul, again "tweeted," "Death is better than life."  God responded by showing Jonah that he was more passionate over the death of a plant than he was over the potential death of 120,000 people who needed God's grace.

Like Jonah, we often become more distraught over a shade plant than we do with the millions of lives that need God's grace.  Johnson's "shade plant" was his dropped ball.

To be fair, Johnson later posted messages concerning his unwavering faith in God, and that he did in fact learn from the event.  The message however remains true: Shouldn't our passion for God's grace on people overcome our passion for the things of this world?  In the grand scheme of eternity, what is a dropped pass...or a few more bucks in our wallets...or more prestige to our names?  "Life is but a vapor," (James 4:14) and we should be focused on showing the world the redemption that is offered in Jesus Christ.

This is a ball that we simply cannot afford to drop.